How to Protect Servers from Ransomware

In the last few years, ransomware attacks have become increasingly a part of our everyday lives. In a ransomware attack, cybercriminals use malicious software to gain access to critical data, then deny you and your organization access to those encrypted files until a ransom is paid. One of the most concerning trends in these attacks is the shift toward targeting servers. Servers are the backbone of an organization’s IT infrastructure, storing data and running critical applications that keep operations running. When servers are compromised by ransomware, it can cause significant harm resulting in lost productivity, revenue, and damage to your reputation. Moreover, recovering from a ransomware attack can be prohibitively expensive, especially for small and medium-sized organizations. To protect your server from ransomware, it’s essential to take proactive steps to safeguard them against potential attacks.

Backup Your Data 

Ransomware encrypts your data, effectively making it inaccessible. Without a backup, you may have no choice but to pay the ransom to recover your own essential files and records. However, with regular backups, you may be able to restore much of your data to its previous state. It’s important to not only back up your data but also to store those backups in a secure location. You should also test your backups periodically to make sure they can be restored successfully in the event of an attack. 

As an extra layer of data protection, some organizations may choose to keep their backups offline, either on removable media or in a separate network that is not directly accessible from the internet. This can help to protect the backups from being encrypted along with the rest of the data in the event of an attack. Regular backups are essential to a comprehensive ransomware protection strategy and can help your organization quickly recover from a ransomware attack with minimal downtime and data loss.

Protect Your Data

Backups can help you recover your data after a ransomware attack, but they won’t protect you from it. It is vital to create a robust cyber security posture by implementing an antivirus and anti-malware protection to prevent ransomware from infecting your servers in the first place. 

These programs work by detecting and blocking malicious software before it can infiltrate your system and encrypt data. When the attack is detected early, there is a better chance of mitigating the damage caused by the ransomware. Protection solutions such as these will scan your system for any known type of malware and conduct behavioral analysis, a useful feature that enables the software to detect suspicious behavior that may indicate an attack is underway. Antivirus software must be updated regularly to provide protection against the latest threats, as new malware is constantly being developed. 

Don’t Ignore Updates

Ensuring that your software is up-to-date is crucial in protecting your servers from ransomware attacks. Cybercriminals often exploit vulnerabilities in outdated software to gain access to a server. This is why it is important to keep your operating system, applications, and security software regularly updated. Software vendors release updates and security patches to address weaknesses, bugs, and other issues, and applying these updates promptly is essential to prevent ransomware attacks. 

Regularly updating your software not only helps stop ransomware attacks by making it more difficult to exploit vulnerabilities, but also ensures that you have access to the latest features and bug fixes. Implementing automated patch management tools can make this process more efficient and effective, reducing the risk of missing critical updates.

Update your Best Practices

It may not be enough to only update your software. Adopting new best practices can be highly effective in helping you protect your servers from ransomware. For example, you can restrict access to your servers to authorized personnel only and use multi-factor authentication to enhance endpoint protection. Additionally, adopting passwordless authentication or educating members of your organization on the importance of strong passwords and how to identify phishing scams often found in spam emails can go a long way in protecting your servers from potential breaches.

It is also important to develop a comprehensive incident response plan. A well-designed plan will enable you to respond quickly and mitigate the damage caused by a ransomware attack. It is important to involve all key stakeholders and develop a plan tailored to your organization’s specific needs. It should outline the necessary steps to be taken in the event of a ransomware attack. This includes identifying the scope of the attack, isolating affected systems, and notifying the appropriate authorities. The plan should also include details on securing backups and restoring critical systems and data.

It is important to test your incident response plan regularly to ensure that it is effective and up-to-date. This can be done through simulated ransomware attacks, which can help identify any weaknesses in the plan and allow for adjustments to be made accordingly.

Protect Your Server from Ransomware with Bullwall

Ransomware attacks can devastate businesses, and servers are a prime target. Taking preventive measures can go a long way in protecting servers from ransomware. A strong defense posture can stop attacks before they happen, and having backups in place is a simple way to recover data if an organization decides not to pay the ransom or doesn’t get all of its data back.

However, given the increasing sophistication of ransomware variants, preventive measures may not always be enough. That’s why it’s crucial for organizations to have a ransomware containment solution in place to stop an attack and limit damage. 

This additional layer of security should be considered an essential part of an organization’s overall security strategy to protect against ransomware. By using a containment solution that can quickly detect and isolate ransomware infections, organizations can limit the impact of an attack and reduce the likelihood of it spreading to other systems on the network. An active defense solution can reduce the potential of data loss and help avoid an expensive recovery from a ransomware attack.

Want to learn more? BullWall offers a ransomware penetration test to help you assess how your current tools respond to various ransomware variants. Or you can schedule a demo of our containment solution.